American Indian Tribes Set Eyes on Online Gambling

With an industry that is recently booming and producing good revenue, it is no surprise that many would invest into the online casino and gambling sector. Although it is unclear how much revenue the industry produces, there have been estimates on the large sum of money that will be generated. For example, Republican Gov. Chris Christie is hoping his state can collect $1.2 billion a year from legal online betting. Fitch Ratings, however, estimates its take will be $300 million to $750 million annually over the next several years.

The American Gaming Association is an association that represents the commercial casino entertainment industry by addressing federal legislative and regulatory issues affecting its members and their employees and customers, such as federal taxation, Internet gambling, and travel and tourism matters. It also serves as the industry's first national gaming information clearinghouse, providing the media, elected officials, other decision makers and the public with timely, accurate gaming industry data. According to the association, the online casino and gaming industry produces almost $30 billion of revenue a year, with Americans spending $4 billion!

The rapid growth of the industry will undoubtedly attract investors such as the Indian tribes. Tribes in the United States have been deeply divided over whether to allow gambling on their reservations with the fear that online casino and gambling will siphon their casinos however, clearly, with the good outlook, it is a good step to take.

The Alturas Indian Rancheria Tribe in Northern California is expected to be the first tribe to formally launch online gaming by the end of the year. The tribe has partnered with a company called Great Luck.The company which is headed by Indians from other tribes has currently unveiled its ‘first tribal online bingo’ site in the United States. They have developed a technology which is similar to VPN which is called the ‘Virtual Private Assisted Play System’: a system that connects wagers to servers located on Indian lands, "thus ensuring that all actual game play is taking place within sovereign Indian lands," the company said. Great Luck is an innovative company that is focused on the technological development for the gaming industry and their platforms has an innovative approach to broadening the reach of tribal games, while complying with all federal and tribal laws.

Hopefully, exemplified by collaborations like Great Luck and tribes in the United States, there is a possibility for at least some of the 460 gaming facilities owned by tribes to offer online casino and gambling services in the near future!